Abu Dhabi Investor Makes UK Debut, Buying Developer For £230M
Aldar Properties, which first declared its intention to enter the UK real estate market almost a decade ago, has finally got a deal over the line.
The listed investor and developer with a market capitalisation of close to £10B has completed a deal to buy residential developer London Square for about £230M, its first deal outside of the Middle East and North Africa region.
London Square has completed more than 3,500 homes to date and has a pipeline of 930 homes under construction, valued at £425M. The company was previously backed by private equity firm Ares and is led by CEO Adam Lawrence.
London Square divisions include its core private for-sale division, London Square Developments; London Square Works, its commercial arm focused on developing office, retail and leisure space; London Square Living, which houses the company’s build-to-rent division; and Square Roots, a registered affordable housing provider.
The company specialises in regenerating former industrial sites. Its notable development projects include the London Square Nine Elms development, located near Battersea Power Station. The project features more than 750 luxury homes, affordable housing, rental apartments, and 22K SF of commercial and retail space.
The transaction is expected to have a positive impact on sales, Aldar said, given the potential for cross-selling across both companies' international customer networks. Aldar’s development sales during the first nine months of 2023 totalled £4.15B.
“The transaction, which is synergistic in nature, gives us the ability to leverage our mutual strengths, shared values, and common approach to homebuilding to scale London Square while bringing the best of Aldar to bear in the UK’s property market, as we continue to build our foothold outside of the region,” Aldar CEO Talal Al Dhiyebi said in a statement.
